


Give and Take

by tourdefierce



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Language, M/M, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2012-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-29 01:39:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tourdefierce/pseuds/tourdefierce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie McGrath is hot and loves to torture Bradley James. Obviously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give and Take

**Author's Note:**

  * For [auctorial](https://archiveofourown.org/users/auctorial/gifts).



> auctorial helped me beta my paperlegends's fic and she gave me the prompt of _Katie McGrath being hot_ for her thank-you fic. This is my ode to the power of Katie McGrath.
> 
> Originally posted to LJ: October 5th, 2010.

"Can we talk about how Morgana has, you know, gone round the bend?" Katie says with a frustrated push of her thick glasses. "Or how I'm stuck making that ridiculous smirking face every time the camera spends any decent amount of time on me?"

"Sorry, what?"

Katie does not resist the temptation to smack Bradley on the back of his head, watching as his eyes widened comically before his whole face crumbles into a pout.

"Stop staring at my breasts and listen to me."

Bradley pouts and waves one nonsensical hand toward her chest. "Not my fault, they were staring at me!"

Katie shakes her head. "My breasts don't stare."

"They do!" Bradley exclaims, his eyes still shifting from her face to her chest with a certain rapid fire quickness that suggested that Bradley had a lot of practice dividing his attention. "They stare and they _flop_ out and mock me."

The sound that comes out of Katie's throat is strangled, a laugh caught up in indignation. "Bradley, my breasts most certainly do not flop."

"They are flopping out right now!"

"Bradley," Katie says with as much destain she can manage when he's looking so fucking adorable and silly. "I'm wearing a turtle neck sweater."

"Flopping and mocking!" He screeches instead, putting his hand over his face and flailing about, periodically peering at her through his fingers. Katie, for the most part, tries not to laugh but can't contain the small secret smile she has for Bradley in these moments when they have no worries or troubles because filming is quite wrapped for the day and the chairs are very comfy in the sinking mud.

"Your obsession with my breasts is unseemly," Katie says with innocence that Bradley is sure to recognize as impending doom. She looks over, coyly, from behind her glasses and finds Bradley's face to be cautious, his eyebrows dancing all over his face like a loon.

"Fishing for compliments, McGrath?"

"No," Katie says slowly, turning away to check out the crew bustling around to break down their last set up. "I'm just saying that for someone who's fucking Colin on a daily basis, you seem to be confused about his assets. Last time I checked, Colin was breastless."

Katie doesn't look away from the crew when Bradley chokes on his shock or when he flails, his over-muscled limbs sending him arse-over-tea-kettle and completely upending his chair and planting his still windmilling body into the squelchy French mud. Instead, she smiles and waves at Colin, who is across the courtyard helping a lighting Frenchman take down a complicated rig. Colin smiles back brightly, looking slightly dimwitted but absolutely adorable in that distinctly _Colin way_ of his. Katie clocks the moment he recognizes Bradley, who, Katie imagines, is still kicking around in the mud with his legs tangled in the chair, because Colin cocks his head to the side with a slight twist to his smile, before looking nothing but _fond_ and _disgustingly precious_.

Not for the first time, Katie wonders how in the world the two of them think they are fooling anyone with this 'best mates' line. Sometimes, Katie wonders if putting up with Bradley is really worth all the trouble for Colin. She thinks, on the days when Bradley is driving her to drink excessive amounts of gin, that she should tell Colin this. But it's so hard when he looks at Bradley like that, in front of all of God and sundry, because Colin makes whatever him and Bradley have going on look real and tender and true.

As much as Katie really does find Bradley to be annoying and hates him on more occasions than she likes him, she would never take away something form Colin that makes him this happy. Especially since Colin is the first one to put the job first, the first one to admit that sacrifices must be made and he was the first one to say that he didn't mind keeping his sexuality out of the papers for as long as the Beeb needed him to.

 _It's not hiding_ , Colin had said to her with a smile twisted around his teeth and his fingers playing with the thick braid of her hair. _I just love what I'm doing here and as long as I'm okay with making that decision, then I don't see why others can benefit from it._

She had wanted to ask. She had wanted to say; _but what about when you're not okay?_ and lately she's been wanting to ask; _but what about Bradley?_

But it's times like these, when Bradley is being a complete goof and Colin is smiling like the whole world shines from Bradley's crooked smile, that Katie thinks that maybe everything will be okay. Even if Morgana never gets to do anything more than smirk evilly for the rest of the shows airing; Even if Colin lets the Beeb hide his gayety from the public; Even if Bradley screws this up beyond repair and Katie has to actually call the James' to apologize for completely wrecking their son's face because he was an utter twat and couldn't see that Colin fucking Morgan was the best thing that ever happened to him; Even if everything changed or if it all stayed the same... even then, everything was probably going to be all right.

Especially if Colin kept laughing.

"I fancy myself a cuppa," Katie says when Colin starts to blush, turning back to help with the take down. Bradley has uprighted himself but is looking rather grimy and very pissed off. "Once you untangle your knickers from your arse-hole, maybe you'd like to join me."

Katie gets up from her chair with a quick unfolding of her legs and moves toward the catering trailer, only allowing herself to look back at Bradley once, who is still looking at her like he's gone round the bend and is also plotting to kill her once he finds his senses again.

"Bring Colin with you."

She might have winked as she walked away but she certainly doesn't want anyone to think her cruel or that her flopping boobs had mocked Bradley in any way.

Because that's just silly.


End file.
